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I. GRINNELL. I Automatic Fire Extinguisher.

No. 231,712. Patented Aug. 3I, 1880.

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UNITED STATES PATENT Enron.

FREDERICK GRINNELL, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND.

AUTOMATIC FIRE-EXTINGUISHER'.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 231,712, dated August 31, 1880.

Application filed May 31, 1880. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern I Be it known that I, FREDERICK GRINNELL,

of the city and county of Providence, and

State of Rhode Island, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Automatic Fire- Extinguishers, (Case 0 5) and I hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

This invention consists in certain details of construction and combinations of parts in an automatic fire-extinguisher, as will hereinafter he described, and pointed out in the claims.

Figure l is a perspective view of the interior of a building provided with a system of pipes arranged to distribute water for the purpose of extinguishing accidental fires, and also a system of wires or cords connected at intervals with links secured by a solder fusible at a low temperature, arranged to release the valve by which the water-supply to the pipes is governed. Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the valve governing the water-supply to the pipes.

In the drawings, A represents a valve connected with the water-main and with the standpipe B,to which the branch pipes O G are connected. The branch pipes C O are provided with rose-head or other distributers,or the pipes may be perforated so as to form distributers.

d 01 represent a system of cords or wires passing through the various parts of a build mg or a section of the same and connected with the weight D.

a c are links made of fusible material or united by means of fusible solder, so that when the temperature of any portion of the building is raised above the normal condition sufficient to indicate a fire the links will separate, or the wires or cords will part and release the weight D.

The valve A consists of the case a, provided with the branches b and c, 0 being the waterinlet, and b the outlet.

' f is a piston, the face of which is provided with a flexible or elastic cup, so constructed that the pressure of the water will force it against the sides of the cylinder a and make A stuffing-box may be used where the piston-rod passes through the case a butl prefer to use the same without a stuffing-box, so as not to impede the motion of the piston when the same is released.

The piston-rod is supplied with one or two nuts, h h, and the stop t is arranged to hold the piston in the desired position as long as the weight D is suspended by the wires or cords d d. This may be accomplished in various ways, two of which are shown in the drawings, viz: The stop t may form part of a bell-crank pivoted at It, the weight being secured to the other end of the bell-crank, and to assist in the opening of the valve the upper portion of the arm i may be curved, so as to force the piston outward by the descent of the weight D; or the stop & may extend from an arm hinged at l, the weight being secured to the free end, so that as soon as the cords or wires at d are severed the descent of the weight will withdraw the stop and the pressure on the piston will move the same beyond the discharge-opening.

To prevent water from entering the system of pipes and allow any water that by any means may pass the piston or remain in the pipes to be automatically discharged, I provide the case a with the drip-opening m, into which a pipe or a draw-off cock maybe secured. This opening m will be covered by the piston f and packing y when the watersupply is open, and any loss or diminution of pressure is thereby avoided. The piston may be released in any other manner, by electricity or other means arranged to release the piston or remove the stop, so that the pressure will open the supply.

I am aware that the Water-supply to fire-extinguishers has heretofore been controlled by means of a valve 5 but such valves either allowed a portion of the water to pass by the valve, or when they were made tight the valve was forced against a fixed seat, and any sudden exoess of pressure was liable to cause a leak of water, or the valve had to be opened against the water-pressure, thus requiring considerable force.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent l. The combination, with a supply-pipe, a series of distributing -pipes communicating therewith, a cord -or wire extending through the apartments in which the distributing-pipes are located and united in each of said apartments by fusible solder, and a weight upheld by said cord or wire, of a cylinder provided with inlet and outlet openings, a piston-valve provided with elastic packing located in said cylinder, and a stop-lever, one end of which engages the valve-stem and retains the valve in a closed position, and the outer end thereof connected with the weight, which is upheld by the cord or wire, substantially as set forth.

2. lhe combination, with a system of distributing-pipes, of a piston interposed between the water-supply and the distributers, and a drip-outlet arranged to carry off any water in the pipes, as described.

FREDERICK GRIN NELL.

Witnesses:

J OSEPH A. MILLER, J. A. MILLER, Jr. 

